1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bushings in general and, more particularly to C-shaped bushings for a front axle strut arm coupling in a four wheel drive vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In some of the early off-road, four wheel drive vehicles, especially the Ford F150 and the Bronco, the front axle in the front suspension tended to wander when the wheels are on a grooved highway and change lanes. Furthermore, in an emergency stop the wheels will not hold straight and cause the vehicle to veer all over the road. This occurs most when the wear and tear on the axle system inevitably produces a negative caster in the front axle steering mechanism and a "caster shimmy" develops. "Negative caster" also will cause the tires to follow cracks in the road and when rounding a corner may not return the steering wheel to normal position.
The caster may be defined by the relative position of the front axle ball joints. When the upper ball joint is forward of the lower ball joint the caster is negative. Likewise, when the upper ball joint is to the rear of the lower ball joint the caster is positive.
The early stock Broncos, for example, is factory equipped with a rubber bushing inserted between the front and rear strut arm coupling members and the intermediary front and rear lugs projecting from the front axle. The rubber bushing was designed to take vibration and off-road shock loads off of the strut arm coupling and maintain positive caster in the axle. The constant wear and aging process tended to erode the rubber bushing and eventually it would slip sideways and out of the coupling members. The consequence of this action was to cause the axle to rotate forward into a negative caster.
The present invention provides novel features that adequately solves the problems inherent in the early Bronco and F150 vehicles which will not only maintain the front axle in positive caster alignment, but will also absolutely not slip out of the strut arm coupling under adverse road conditions.